176 replies to this topic

[raceguy120390]

Sigh. Nein's making an Aussie version of The Apprentice. After it already cancelled the Trump version. And after Seven cancelled the British version.

Next time, guys? Amazing Race. Seriously. At this point, it's the only reality show you'll get any decent ratings for.

Anyone else not thinking of applying?

[katisha66]

Seriously? I wonder who the rich bastard Trump/Sugar figure is going to be? Jamie Packer? Lachlan Murdoch? Eddie McEverywhere? Jodi Gordon's ex father-in-law to be? ;)

[raceguy120390]

Yes, seriously. Saw the ad last night.

Wonder if there'll be a task involving selling Snuggies on Kerri-Anne.

Seriously? I wonder who the rich bastard Trump/Sugar figure is going to be?

It's [url="http://<a%20href="http://www.ebroadcast.com.au/enews/nine/The-Apprentice-Comes-To-Australia-120509.html"%20target="_blank">http://www.ebroadcas...tml</a>"]the guy who founded Wizard Finance.[/url] Unsurprisingly, they're also a sponsor of the Collingwood AFL team, which Eddie McEverywhere is president of. I smell a cross-promotion.

ETA: And here's the application form. Interestingly, that has a date of the 28th of June, but the press release (as reported by The Aged) have the 3rd of July.

Either way, it's pretty much a given that it won't be that popular. Is it too damn hard to get Nein to play the two Survivor seasons they're sitting on yet?

Edited by raceguy120390, Jun 22, 2009 @ 9:59 PM.

[katisha66]

That link doesn't work for me, raceguy. Is it Mark Bouris?

[raceguy120390]

Yeah, it is.

Seriously, in what universe does this programming decision make sense?

Edited by raceguy120390, Jun 22, 2009 @ 10:02 PM.

[legaleagle44]

Eh, at least he's better looking than Trumpster and Sir Alan (although he's still got nothing on his hunky Brazilian counterpart, Roberto Justus.) I just wonder whether he'll be as awesomely snarky as Sir Alan, and whether his viceroys will be the equals of either George/Carolyn or Nick/Margaret.

If this shows up somewhere on You-Know-Where (because, God forbid that anyone in the US should ever be allowed to watch any Australian programmes at the actual website), I'll watch it. At least it's not going to be a Celebrity Edition. *shudder*

Edited by legaleagle44, Jun 22, 2009 @ 10:28 PM.

[raceguy120390]

At least it's not going to be a Celebrity Edition. *shudder*

I take it you missed either Australian Survivor or Celebrity Survivor, then. Because the celebrity version shits all over the non-celebrity version. (At least, until the last few weeks of each.)

Guesses on possible task ideas? I doubt we'd be getting as much product-placement as the US version.

[legaleagle44]

I caught glimpses of both the Aussie Survivor and Celebrity Survivor on You-Know-Where (I've just never gotten around to watching them in their entirety.) I agree with you about "Celebrity" editions in general, though; they're abominations that should never see the light of day, in my view (and that goes quadruple for the US and UK Celebrity editions of The Apprentice), although I did think it funny that Kym Johnson actually voted herself off when she got the boot on the Aussie Celebrity Survivor.

Back on the topic of the Aussie Apprentice, I expect that we'll see a lot of emphasis on sales-based tasks, just like on the UK version. Product placement seems to be almost an exclusively American thing (probably at least in part because British law pretty much forbids it, and I can't think that Australian law would be much different in that regard.) We'll also probably see a few "start your own service" tasks, and I'll be greatly shocked if we don't see a few advertising tasks as well. And, for me, no series of any version of The Apprentice would be complete without some version of the notorious QVC task.

What I can't wait to see is whom we get for the first series of Apprentice donkeys; how many Sams, Katrinas, Kendras, Seans (all US), Pauls, Jameses, Lorraines, Debras, and Bens (all UK) do you think Australia could give Mark Bouris to use as cannon fodder/comedy relief?

Edited by legaleagle44, Jun 22, 2009 @ 11:08 PM.

[Andrew's Mommy]

Have Channel Nein not learned after coming 3rd in the ratings last week? Teh Apprentice of various varieties has been squashed away in a dead timeslot on various channels, and most would not be able to tell you anything about recent seasons, or even that they'd aired!

[Reny Sue]

I only watched the American Celebrity Aprentice because it had Jennie Finch on it. Once she went, I went. The show is shit.

[raceguy120390]

Filming now, in Sydney (spoiled in case, but who can't guess from the size of the bar?). Spoilers ahoy!

One task (filmed yesterday) involves assembling an art exhibition...in an hour.

Sounds like a relatively decent task, which surprises me.

[raceguy120390]

Apparently, this starts next Monday night, confirming it as The Least Publicised Show In Australian History. Unfortunately, it'll probably be going up against the premiere of Flash Forward on Seven, which means this'll be doomed to fail. Not that it wasn't going to fail by virtue of being The Apprentice anyway, but... you know.

I'm actually sort of looking forward to this in a way that's more than normal.

[Bill1978]

The WIN station out my way has been advertising it quite heavily, but they only mention coming soon no start date. Not that I'll be tuning in as I didn't even tune into the original US version. The impression I've got from our ads is that it's only for unemployed people who just need a leg up.

[katisha66]

I can see why you might think that, Bill, from the ads (cos on the Gold coast I see them on WIN too), but FWIW I sort of know a girl who auditioned for this show and got through quite a long way into it before getting cut, and she is a high-powered PR type from Sydney, so maybe not?

[raceguy120390]

The impression I've got from our ads is that it's only for unemployed people who just need a leg up.

While there's certainly an element of that, but not entirely. One of the contestants is Sabrina Houssami, who was Miss World Australia in 2006.

Starts Monday at 9:30, so at least Nein has the sense to not put it up against Flash Forward.

[CTarnak]

I don't think I can sit through an entire season of "Aussie Battler"-types giving it ago, and sticking around for ratings purposes at the expense of people who are actually competent when it comes to business matters, which I'm sure is what's going to happen. The apprentice usually rewards the person with the least amount of shame anyway.

I'll give it a go though. I really liked the UK one they put on last year.

[raceguy120390]

The impression I'm getting is that this is much, MUCH more like the UK version than the US one. Given Nein is where the US one failed, they'd be idiots to try it exactly like that. I mean, Survivor was a raging success, and look what happened there.

[cousin oliver]

Just in time for the premiere, there's finally a meet the cast page up.

[raceguy120390]

About damn time.

[bluezombie2]

So, what did everyone think?

For a start, I didn't know going in that it was 90 minutes, and I didn't like that. I really hope that was only for the premiere, and that from now on it will be sixty minutes per episode.

I didn't think too much of Mark Bouris. Something about having him as the show's central figure didn't sit right with me. The times his offsider Brad Seymour spoke, he seemed like he would have been much better in the role. I also didn't like the way he referred to the teams as 'boys' and 'girls.' It seemed patronising, particularly when (I don't actually know how old Mark is) I believe some of them are older than him. Diane seemed alright, but some of her comments were a little off. Referring to Sabrina as 'flying under the radar' for example. There's been one task. I don't think that's possible yet.

As for the contestants, it's hard to get too much of a read on them this early, but I'm going to pick Heather as the winner, for no particular reason. Now, watch her get fired next week.

Carmen is the only contestant that I really disliked. I didn't like Sabrina's usage of her Miss World title when introducing herself, that reeked of vanity, but other than that she seemed alright. Jane was pleasant enough, but never going to win, she was always cannon fodder. Mary Anne seemed like she'd be really annoying to live with from the brief parts we saw of her, just so loud and kind of obnoxious. But Carmen was horrible. Hypocritical, annoying, abrasive, the list goes on. She really deserved to be fired for her horrible leadership, and her terrible underquoting of prices. I think Jane was robbed in the fact that Carmen seems to be shaping as the only potential villain for the show at this stage, and so Mark had to keep her for now for some drama and interest.

Can't really get a read on the men yet, from their little screentime they seemed alright, but I have no doubt that when the going gets tough for them, some of them will turn into jerks.

Did the women really complete the job at the waterfront? I know they got paid, and were briefly shown spreading some mulch, but they when they got paid, there was still a gigantic pile of mulch behind them, so I don't really think the job was complete.

I'll watch again next week, but this has nothing on any other version of the show. It's kind of sterile, and very fake. Did anyone else notice that when the secretary/assistant girl was 'typing' that she wasn't actually pressing the keys, and at one point they showed her screen, and it was just the desktop?

I missed it in the credits at the end, who was doing the narrating? At first I thought it was Tom Williams, but as the show went on, I began to think it was a Daddo. Andrew probably since he used to be on The Great Outdoors with Tom, and maybe that's why I made the link.

[katisha66]

Bugger - I forgot this was on. Hopefully ep will be on the website, or I can try and tune in next week.

[cousin oliver]

How the hell did Jane get cast? She was far too laid back for this show.

We're going to be stuck with Carmen for the long haul, aren't we? [shudder] Unless Mary-Anne steps up to out-annoy her. Miss Australia 2003 is already wearing thin. I've forgotten the other two "girls" already.

As for the men, Morello is on my hate list for saying "you guys literally gave 200%" - if only he'd started that sentence with "at the end of the day" he'd have hit the jackpot of annoying empty phrases. The only other guy I noticed was the dude with the floppy hair and smokin' bod. Oh, and the sure to be annoying baby-face guy.

I liked the task in that it tripped them up on quoting and the time it would take (and I agree, that pile of mulch hadn't been touched). Although it appeared completely set-up that both teams got two corporate jobs (especially when the second job went to the men instead of the bargain basement women).

Mark the no-Trump needs to think out his entire sentence before he speaks. Or learn to read the prompter.

All that being said, I'll be back next week.

ETA: That's if the show is back next week. 692,000 viewers, 25th place for the night. Yeesh.

Edited by cousin oliver, Sep 28, 2009 @ 9:01 PM.

[Fipe]

I enjoyed it, but I confess I've never watched the US or UK versions so I can't do any comparisons. Very slickly produced apart from the previously discussed fake boardroom and secretary. Although they've fallen into the MasterChef trap of constantly throwing in dramatic helicopter shots of the contestants' cars speeding across the Harbour Bridge or Glebe Island Bridge, even if the contestants are heading in a different direction entirely. I always find that distracting.

I was amazed that both teams were stupid enough to think that with only six people, they'd be able to do both of their massive commercial jobs in one day with several hours to spare for residential work. Pinnacle honestly deserved to lose for making four totally unrealistic bookings and then cancelling them, but Carmen managed to destroy it by underquoting on both their jobs. Still don't understand why she wasn't fired for that, since she was obviously the main reason Eventus underperformed.

[spentcigarette]

I enjoyed it, but I confess I enjoy both the US and UK versions too. (The US series is a joke but that's why I love it - it's so fun to snark about. And I enjoy the UK series in the same way I enjoy the Australian version, it feels more 'real'.) I'm glad the entire cast wasn't made up of people made redundant by the economic crisis, like I thought it was. This cast seems rather young, actually.

I thought Carmen should have been fired for one reason only: the underquoting. The difference in profits between the two teams was $600 so if she had quoted $1000 instead of $400 for that second job, I believe that would have given the womens team the win. For that error alone, she should have been fired. Jane was total filler so I don't necessarily mourn her departure, but I still feel it was a bad decision.

One thing that annoyed me in the boardroom was Bouris' lady PA saying Sabrina (who I rather like) was going "under the radar". First of all, it's the first episode, it's absolutely absurd to make a statement like that. But more importantly, that wasn't the impression I got from Sabrina at all. She seemed to take charge on the first day, cementing the only residential job either team had, and I agree with her asssessment when she said she worked the hardest physically on the second day. I thought it was ridiculous she even made it into the boardroom, she was only picked because Carmen didn't see how the other three worked.

Other than that, I really enjoyed it. I'm rooting for the 19-year-old law student because I'm young myself and like seeing driven young people succeed. As I mentioned before, I also really liked Sabrina. The only contestants who grate right now are Carmen - for being a shitty leader and getting away with it - and Mary-Anne. Something about the way she speaks bugs. I suspect she'll turn into our series villain somewhere down the track.

An amusing thing I noticed - Bouris' secretary "typing" away on her laptop after she sends the contestants into the boardroom. Except the TV camera captures the computer screen, and we see she's really keyboard mashing on the desktop. Really, you couldn't have opened up Word/Excel? Hee.

[raceguy120390]

Carmen, at the task: "Yeah, she's slow because she's old, and I understand that."
Carmen, in the board room: "She's slow and old."

Shut up, Carmen.

That booting sucked. Since when are petty arguments a good part of business, anyway?

Diane seemed alright, but some of her comments were a little off. Referring to Sabrina as 'flying under the radar' for example. There's been one task. I don't think that's possible yet.

How exactly does "Hi, I'm Miss World Australia 2006, can I mow your lawn?" qualify as flying under the radar, anyway?

This cast seems rather young, actually.

Surprisingly enough, it's one of the oldest Apprentice casts in history -- Jane's the only over-50 ever cast. (Well, there was Joan Rivers, but even she's forgotten how old she is.)

ETA: That's if the show is back next week. 692,000 viewers, 25th place for the night. Yeesh.

Yikes. Still, it's higher ratings than a lot of Nine shows get these days. I can't see them cancelling this -- this'll be the rare show that actually gets a chance to find an audience. Probably. (Although, there already are the Hey Hey specials to steal that role.)

Edited by raceguy120390, Sep 29, 2009 @ 3:10 AM.

[CTarnak]

As a corporate drone myself, I found the more "real" tone of the Australian version a little bit draining. It's kind of like how (some) nurses won't watch RPA or even Grey's Anatomy because it's too much like everyday work.

Exactly what was Jane supposed to do during the challenge, Mark Bore-us? I'm not sure escalating the arguement and flinging compost at Carmen's head was really going to help the situation when there was only 3 hours to go. I'd much rather work for Jane than Carmen, particularly as Carmen is one of those managers who is fun when the going is good, and an absolute nightmare when the going gets rough.

Mary-Ann is a nightmare. The emotional maturity of a 12 year old girl stuck in a hormonally challenged body (the peach fuzz on the face when she was in the sunlight was, like, whoa). Sabrina's lack of self-perception was amazing and hilarious. Her introductions were easily the highpoints of the episode.

My second favourite part was the first meeting of the men, and the guy with the horrendous acne scars saying something like "We're men, so we want a name that shows success. And masculinity" and then... he had nothing. And then later Mark asked "what's your team name" and Morvolo (or whoever) goes "Pinnacle, because when you reach the top of the mountain, you're at the top".... uh, duh?

The guy with the floppy hair was pretty fit, but his forearms looked more muscular than his biceps. It gave him this bizarre GI Joe/Action figure look. His endless air-punches were a bit painful too, as in "look, this is me demonstating enthusiasm... did you get that Camera 1?!"

Imagine if the 19-year-old wins and ends up National General Manager of Business Development. Imagine being a seasoned veteren reporting up to the boy puberty forgot. I'd quit on the spot, not necessarily out of spite, but because there would be nothing I could learn from him. And a bit of spite.

Bore-us' male off-sider was all kinds of awesome, and should have his own show.

Edited by CTarnak, Sep 29, 2009 @ 6:04 AM.

[bluezombie2]

Exactly what was Jane supposed to do during the challenge, Mark Bore-us? I'm not sure escalating the arguement and flinging compost at Carmen's head was really going to help the situation when there was only 3 hours to go.

Mark actually fired Jane for not fighting back when Carmen criticised her in the boardroom. Which wasn't really fair, as she'd already stated her arguments. It's one of those situations where she was probably damned either way. Doesn't fight back - she's weak. If she'd fought back, he probably would have yelled at her for being domineering, interrupting and not letting anyone else talk. I think he just wanted to fire Jane because Carmen will create more drama for the show, and used whatever reason to do it.

I thought Carmen should have been fired for one reason only: the underquoting. The difference in profits between the two teams was $600 so if she had quoted $1000 instead of $400 for that second job, I believe that would have given the womens team the win. For that error alone, she should have been fired.

While I 100% (or 'literally 200%' as Morello would say) agree that Carmen should have been fired, and primarily for this reason, the underquoting was a problem with both corporate jobs, and fixing one wouldn't have done it. They lost by $616 and got the $50 tip from the second guy, so even if she'd charged $1000, she'd only get an extra $550. They would still be short. They only quoted half of what the guys were trying to charge for the first job, and even though the guys were way overpriced, Eventus charged $300 under the professional price on that one too. They needed to have charged more on both jobs to win. Carmen is a disaster.

I too, saw the lack of ratings. It's a worry, but I think they'll stick with the show, at least for now. If Nine can keep Australia's Perfect Couple on until the end, they can keep this on too.

[raceguy120390]

I too, saw the lack of ratings. It's a worry, but I think they'll stick with the show, at least for now. If Nine can keep Australia's Perfect Couple on until the end, they can keep this on too.

Absolutely. Nine's in the position right now where it really can't afford not to keep it on the air. I'd say the complete and utter lack of promotion until basically last Friday really hurt the show.

[Fipe]

Absolutely. Nine's in the position right now where it really can't afford not to keep it on the air. I'd say the complete and utter lack of promotion until basically last Friday really hurt the show.

Not to mention the relatively late timeslot, and the fact that its lead-in got slaughtered by FlashForward.

[raceguy120390]

Speaking of lead-ins, it's getting an encore presentation at 10:00 tonight, right after the Hey Hey reunion. Which probably won't help as much as it sounds, given Hey Hey will be going up against Celebrity Masterchef (at 7:30), the Spicks & Specks 70's music special (at 8:30) and United States of Tara (at 9:30). Ouch.